To Stand On My Own
by jekkah
Summary: Written for BonesBird CONGRATULATIONS! . Tom and B'Elanna spend time together at Kathryn's cabin while waiting for an answer to their future. ONE SHOT


_Disclaimer: I own nothing. I make nothing. I will gain nothing from this._

_Author's Note: In honor of BonesBird hitting 500,000 written words (and climbing!) on ff, I offered to write a one shot of her choice. Her chosen pairing was Tom Paris/B'Elanna Torres and her three prompts were putting furniture together by hand, a slip and fall and the aftermath of an important meeting. This is only my second time writing anything Star Trek for others to read and the first was a drabble. Hope you enjoy! Congratulations, Bones!_

**To Stand On My Own**

"You have that done yet, hot shot?" B'Elanna asked Tom, walking into the living room.

Tom groaned in frustration. "No." He threw the leg of the playpen down. "Why did we agree to come here again?"

B'Elanna took pity on him and rubbed his shoulders from behind. "Because you wanted to get away for awhile." She leaned down and kissed the back of his neck. "You're the one that wanted to take advantage of your new sister's cabin in the woods."

"I didn't think a cabin in the woods would be quite so... rustic," Tom confessed. He smiled as he remembered the look on Kathryn Janeway's face when he asked for use of her cabin while at the wedding reception of their mothers. He spent the entire time calling her his "big sister," which caused her to groan and her sister, Phoebe, to laugh.

"She did try to warn you," B'Elanna replied, softly. "And there is a communicator, even if there isn't a replicator."

Tom sighed. "At least, the crib was already assembled."

She sat down next to Tom, grabbing one of the legs. "Miral took to it like it was made for her." She paused. "I think Chakotay may have stopped to drop it off before we got here."

"Really?" Tom's eyebrows rose as he smirked at B'Elanna.

"Don't you start," she warned, pushing his shoulder.

Tom's smile deepened. "He was my 'big sister's' escort to the wedding after all."

"He's been her escort for over seven years. You didn't think that was going to stop now that we're back in the Alpha Quadrant, did you?" B'Elanna shook her head, determined to change the subject. "Do you think it was odd that your father walked your mother down the aisle to marry Mrs. Janeway?"

"Not really," he replied with a shrug. "My parents have always been better friends than a couple. In fact, I think they talked more to each other after the divorce than they did the entire time they were married."

B'Elanna frowned. She had thought perhaps that his mother's recent marriage was the reason behind the melancholy mood that had crept into him the last few weeks, as much as he tried to hide it. She leaned her back against the couch. "It was nice to see Harry again. I can't believe how much I miss seeing him every day."

Tom shot her a bemused look. "We talk to Harry every day; sometimes two or three times a day. I think Miral's first words are going to be 'Uncle Harry.'"

"It's not the same as having him down the corridor."

"I suppose not, but we've managed to get together a few times a month since we've been back," Tom replied, absently, making a mental note to find out when the next time Kathryn was willing to baby-sit the baby so that he and B'Elanna could meet Harry at Sandrine's for the night.

"It was nice of your mom and Mrs. Janeway to invite him," she commented, scratching her nose.

Tom chuckled. "He is our best friend, after all. Besides, I suspect that if it had been up to the two of them, the entire Voyager crew would have been invited. I believe Kathryn put her foot down on that and limited them to just two hundred guests." He shifted, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "How long do you think it'll take the committee to get back to us?"

The underlining tension in his voice cause her heart to break a little. "They said they would let us know within a week."

"That's good, right? I mean, if they hated the idea, they would have come right out and said so. They wouldn't just string us along?" Tom address the questions to B'Elanna, but he was staring off into space.

"Tom," she said, lightly, touching his knee to bring him back to her. "Even if they say no, we're going to be okay. You know that, right? I mean, we can always take the offer for commissions in Starfleet. Or there's the freighter gig with Ayala that we can do. We can always ask your new big sister to put in a word-"

"No!" Tom said, forcefully. He stood suddenly and walked to the other side of the room.

B'Elanna stood, licking her lips. She put her hands on her hips. "Why?"

Tom sighed and for a moment she was afraid that he wouldn't answer her. He turned and gave her a lop-sided grin. "I just... want to do this on my own."

"Do what?"

"This." He spread his arms wide. "Take care of you and Miral."

B'Elanna scoffed. "I don't need anyone to take care of me."

Tom smiled in spite of himself. "Poor choice of words. What I mean is that I want us to take care of our family. I don't want to rely on the Paris name or the Janeway name or even Voyager. I want to show everyone that we can do this; we can take care of our family."

"Oh," she replied, quietly.

"I mean, the chance to write holonovels professionally is something I never even dreamed of, but I think I could do really well at it." He turned from her.

B'Elanna stepped forward, laying her hand on his shoulder and turning him towards her. "You can do well at anything you put your mind and heart to. Look at everything you've done in the last eight years."

Tom sighed. "Because Kathryn gave me a chance because she felt obligated to my father."

"If you believe that you really are a petaQ." B'Elanna squeezed his shoulder. "You didn't have to agree to go with Kathryn on that mission. You didn't have to befriend Harry. You didn't have to save Chakotay or agree to go undercover to catch the spy or-"

"Okay!" Tom nearly shouted, his cheeks heating.

B'Elanna pursed her lips, running her fingers along his neck. "You didn't have to love me."

Tom pulled her into his arms. "That's where you're wrong. I absolutely had to love you. The universe left me no other choice."

"No other choice, huh?" She pulled his head down until their mouths were millimeters apart.

"Not a one," he replied. "It's why I thank the universe every day."

B'Elanna surged up to capture his lips. She ran her tongue lightly across his bottom lip before forcing it inside. They battle in familiar dominance, pressing their bodies tight against each other. She moved her hands into his hair, massaging his scalp. He moved his fingers over back to cradle her butt, rocking gently into her.

She sighed happily into his mouth. No matter how many kisses they shared, each was as tantalizing as the first. B'Elanna knew in the deepest sections of her heart that they were destined to be together always. The thought fueled her overwhelming lust and her kisses turned from sweet to spicy. She began to walk him backwards, intent on taking him against the wall.

Tom groaned deep in his throat, hearing an answering noise from B'Elanna that made him smile. Without warning, he tripped over one of Miral's toys, falling to the floor with a loud thud. He took B'Elanna with him, cushioning her fall with his body. He chuckled, even as hot pain flashed through his body.

"That was graceful," she deadpanned.

"Just consider it a shortcut to where I wanted to get you all along," he quipped in response, his eyes shining brightly.

B'Elanna nipped his ear. "What makes you think this wasn't where I wanted to get you all along?"

Tom opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Miral's cries. He kissed B'Elanna's forehead. "I'll go get her."

"I'll put together the playpen," B'Elanna offered, standing and offering a hand to help him up.

"And I'm sure you'll have it done in under three minutes." He stole one last kiss before heading upstairs.

B'Elanna walked towards the playpen, stopping when a light from the communicator caught her eye. She was still standing at the console when Tom returned with a wide awake Miral cuddled in his arms. He looked at her with concern.

"B'Elanna?"

She looked up at him, a slow smile creeping across her face. "I hope you have a few more stories in that brain of yours because you have yourself a new career."

"What?" Tom stood there, unmoving.

"They accepted your offer. You start working in two weeks." She stepped over to him, looping her arms around his neck. "They're even interested in talking to me about designs for a new line of private shuttles. Just want did you talk about in the meeting anyway?"

Tom breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I just told them the truth; that I have the smartest, most amazing wife in four quadrants." He kissed Miral's cheek before kissing B'Elanna's lips. He put his free arm around her waist. "I love you."

"I love you," she replied, running her fingers through their daughter's dark hair. "Congratulations, Tom. Looks like you're taking care of us after all."

"Only until they roll out your first shuttle, then me and the munchkin here are going to sit back and ride your coattails to the sweet life."

THE END


End file.
